While the death penalty and capital punishment has existed for over 4000 years, many argue that this form of punishment is justifiable and humane in order to keep society safe. The death penalty should be abolished and outlawed because it violates an individual’s right to the 8th Amendment and this is a long, drawn out, costly process for all parties involved. The 8th Amendment states that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. According to the 8th Amendment, the death penalty along with other forms of capital punishment should be abolished to prevent unnecessary grief for the victim, the victim’s family, and the offender’s family. In the end, it is wrong for the taxpayer’s of this nation to financially support the offender of the crime until they are finally put to death.
The death penalty should be abolished because of the problems associated with how the State administers the punishment. Specifically, it violates an individual’s 8th Amendment right. Stated in "Problems Associated with Lethal Injection," an article posted on the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty (NCADP) website, the Coalition comments on a problem faced with lethal injection, which boldly reveals, "Recently, concerns have surfaced regarding Pavulon [a drug used in lethal injections], which could paralyze inmates to the point where they are unable to communicate any pain they are feeling from the following dose of potassium chloride. Painful, lengthy executions constitute violations of the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment” (“is the death”, 2008). To put is another way, the author is stating that even though an inmate may be paralyzed during a lethal inj...
... middle of paper ...
...nt offenders who live among us. Violent criminals who are awarded the death penalty are still humans in the end. Some view executing violent criminals as a form of justice and closure to the heinous crime committed, while others view this act as inhumane and a violation of rights. In the end let us remember one thing, only God should decide if we should stay on this Earth.
References
Is the death penalty unconstitutional?. (2008, 08 06). Retrieved from http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=1715
Jaeger-Lane, M. (n.d.). Victims of the death penalty. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/victims-and-death-penalty
Lawrence Goodwin, M. (2007, Vol. 36 No. 4). An argument against allowing the families of murder victims to view executions. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/against.html
Don't you think that putting people to death is brutal? Wouldn't you rather have them stay in prison for the rest of their lives? In fact, it costs far more to execute a person then to keep him or her in prison for life. The EighthAmendment states that it prevents cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty is violating it. The Supreme Court case, McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) violates the Eighth Amendment purpose. Therefore, the death penalty clearly defies the Eighth Amendment and shouldn't be used for people who have convicted murder.
Bedau, Hugo Adam, Ph.D. "The Case Against the Death Penalty." American Civil Liberties Union. 2012. Web. .
Many call capital punishment unconstitutional and point to the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution for support. The amendment states that, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment be inflicted." Those who oppose the death penalty target the 'cruel and unusual' phrase as an explanation of why it is unconstitutional. Since the Framers of the Constitution are no longer with us and we base our nation on the words in which that document contains, the legality of the death penalty is subject to interpretation. Since there is some ambiguity or lack of preciseness in the Constitution, heated debate surrounding this issue has risen in the last ten years.
The Death Penalty is cruel and unusual, however we still give constitutional acceptance to the federal system. It presents “a relic of the earliest days of penology, when slavery, branding, and other corporal punishments were commonplace. Like those other barbaric practices, executions have no place in civilized society.”(1) It is wrong to advocate the the use of the capital punishment when numerous options are available to those in need of rehabilitation. Three of the most prominent problems with continuing this archaic method of retribution are innocents conflicted with inaccurate verdicts, the death penalty being a state-sanctioned killing that only continues the evolution of violence, and the nation's taxes going towards the purchase of fatal narcotics used in the killings of fellow human beings.
Topic Sentence: Those who oppose the death penalty argue that it is inhumane. However, supporters argue that the ways states use the death penalty is humane comparatively to older times. Some examples of these older types of capital punishment are; “boiling a prisoner to death in oil, dismembering a convict (often by having them drawn and
Is the death penalty consistent with the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against the imposition of cruel and unusual punishments? This essay will address this question and present a short history of the death penalty in America.
The death penalty debate in the United States is dominated by the fraudulent voice of the anti-death penalty movement. The culture of lies and deceit so dominates that movement that many of the falsehoods are now wrongly accepted as fact, by both advocates and opponents of capital punishment. (Sharp) Opponents of capital punishment are extremely outspoken and vehement in their arguments. The American Civil Liberties Union believes the death penalty violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. However, the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment, the authors of the United States Constitution’s Eighth Amendment related “cruel and unusual” punishment to methods used in ages past. The Eighth Amendment was created to outlaw such practices as bur...
For centuries, the death penalty has been used by nations throughout the world. Practices such as stoning, the guillotine, firing squads, electrocution, and lethal injections have all been common practices to condemn criminals who had enacted heinous crimes. In concurrent society, however, capital punishment has begun to be viewed as a barbaric and inhumane. From these judgments, arguments and controversies have erupted over whether or not the United States should continue to practice the death penalty. With advocates and critics arguing over the morality of the death penalty, the reason to why the death penalty exists has been blurred. Because of the death penalty’s ability to thwart future criminals through fear and its practical purposes, the practice of capital punishment should continue in the United States.
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
Many people have strong pro and con feelings on this subject, discussed and argued about only second to abortion. Putting another human being to death is a hard thing to think about until you realize the horrible things one person can do to another without drastic punishment as a determent.
Capital punishment is the most severe sentence imposed in the United States and is legal in thirty-eight states. The death penalty is a controversial subject, especially because the U.S. is the only western democracy to retain this consequence (Scheb, 518). I personally believe that the death penalty is a valid sentence for those who deserve it. Some believe it is not constitutional, but those who face this penalty are clearly suspect of a savage offense and therefore should be at a loss of certain rights. The arguments don’t end there once one considers that “the controversy over capital punishment becomes more heated when special circumstances arise” (Sternberg, 2). This issue brings up more arguments against the death penalty because of the constitutionally protected ban on cruel and unusual punishment which is protected by the Eighth Amendment. There have been nearly 15,000 executions that have taken place in America, the first in 1608 with the death of Captain George Kendall (Siegel, 410). Most of these were sentenced to death because of their own action of killing others. However, more and more crimes are now able to be punishable by death. This is the result of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which “dramatically increased the number of federal crimes eligible for this sentence” (Scheb, 520). Even so, the federal government has yet to put someone on death row for a non-homicidal case. The arguments for and against capital punishment are lengthy and strictly opinionated, but are also important to see the evolution of our society as the majority view changes and new influences come about.
The death penalty is a highly controversial and hotly debated topic. The death penalty is completely obsolete in western English speaking countries; the only exception the United States of America. Capital Punishment is only used in cases of treason and in murder 1. Supporters of the death penalty believe that putting a killer to death gives the family of the murdered knowledge that justice was served. The opposition to the death penalty believes that the punishment is too “final”: it offers no possibility of rehabilitation. Both sides, however, recognize the need for a change in the justice system regarding capital punishment. The common issue is finding a punishment which is harsh enough to deter crime but still offers the chance of rehabilitation. The standard form of execution is use of lethal injection, in which the convicted is bound to a chair and injected with sodium thiopental to cause unconsciousness, pancuronium bromide to induce paralysis, and potassium chloride to stop the heart. Texas is the state most liberal in their use of the death penalty, with 34% of the national total since 1976. The death penalty has been a part of civilization for all of man’s existence, starting in Ancient Greece and Egypt and continuing on through today.
Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.”
Eaton, Judy, Tony Christensen. “Closure and its myths: Victims’ families, the death penalty, and the closure argument.” International Review of Victimology, Vol 20(3).Sep, 2014. : pp. 327-343.
"The Death Penalty Essay." Example Essays.com - Over 100,000 essays, term papers and book reports! Web. 14 Jan. 2010. .